


Seeing You

by shopfront



Category: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Feelings Realization, Getting Together, Living Together, Post-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-04-06 07:25:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19057984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopfront/pseuds/shopfront
Summary: Midge shut the door behind her as she left and, finally closed in with nothing but the faint sound of traffic to keep her company, Susie let herself drop heavily onto the end of the bed. Her coat made a faintly alarming crunching noise beneath her, but she ignored it. She hadn’t worn it since they’d last been in New York and she couldn’t remember what it might be anyway. Whatever was in her pockets, it probably wasn’t important.They were back. Maybe everything would be alright, after all.





	Seeing You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [htbthomas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/htbthomas/gifts).



> Soulbond AU: Everyone is born seeing colour. That colour fades or returns when one loses or gains a loved one they're compatible to soulbond with.

“Well, here we are,” Midge said hurriedly as she wrestled the lock open and flung the door wide with a flourish. “What do you think?”

“It’s an apartment,” Susie said as she followed Midge inside. She kept her hands firmly anchored in her pockets and shrugged in response when Midge gave her a withering look. Though she did at least look around a little while Midge shut the door and fussed with her coat, but from what she could see from the entrance it really was just a sparsely furnished apartment. Granted, it was smaller than Midge’s last place. But that wasn’t exactly a tall order, and an apartment was still just an apartment in Susie’s book.

“So there’s no elevator and I know it won’t be much once we’re all crammed in here, but at least it’s better than that horrible little room you had before. Besides, Jackie told me you couldn’t get it back, though I suppose that wasn’t much of a surprise after you left on such short notice,” Midge said. Susie just stared at her, at a loss, until Midge stopped and took a deep breath. For a moment she looked like a perfect frieze, framed by the glass windows and curtains that surrounded the front door and reminding Susie again of the small palace that Midge apparently no longer called home. Then Midge threw her hands up, breaking the illusion and interrupting Susie’s train of thought as she began to bustle them down the hallway.

“Woah, hang on a minute,” Susie protested as Midge grabbed her by the elbow to drag her along. She dug her heels in, pointlessly, and then nearly tripped over her own feet when Midge stopped equally suddenly and yanked Susie’s coat from her shoulders.

“I put aside the room at the end so that I'll be between you and the children. Not that I can guarantee that’ll stop them from anything. I mean, who knows what mischief Ethan will get up to in the middle of the night once he’s used to you. But still, there’s no helping that right now and at least it's a room with a proper bed that doesn’t have to be folded down each night. Go on, take a look.”

Susie choked on a yelp as Midge placed one hand firmly between her shoulder blades and shoved, only to stagger to a stop and gape at the tiny bedroom. The centre of the room was almost filled by a narrow bedframe and the window was open, curtains billowing in the breeze. There wasn’t much else in the room other than a door that presumably led to a closet of some sort, but it was clean and empty - and yes, it was indeed a real bed.

“I was going to look for a dresser or something for you amongst the things my parents are putting in storage, but then I thought that you might prefer to pick out a few things for yourself. So. What do you think?” Midge asked. Susie gaped at the bed some more, and then twisted to stare at Midge over her shoulder.

Midge’s harried look was finally starting to fade. A smile twitched at her mouth as she stood in the doorway with their coats flung over her arm and her hat in her hand, and she was looking more pleased with herself by the second. Susie still didn’t know what to say, but something inside her that she hadn’t realised was tense abruptly unwound as she watched Midge.

“That’s a nice guest bed you got in here. Better hope your parents don’t want to visit, I don’t think they’ll both fit in it.”

Midge let out a groan of frustration, but her smile widened further as she stepped up beside Susie to survey the bed proudly. “So you’ll take it?” she asked as she threw Susie’s coat down on the end of the mattress, as if claiming it for Susie before Susie could try to refuse her more directly. Her hand hovered for a moment, hanging between them and twitching a little in Susie’s direction before Midge let it drop back down to smooth out her skirt.

“You do realise you haven’t actually offered me anything yet, right?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Susie. You’ll take it.”

There was the slightest ghost of a sensation across Susie’s shoulder, so slight she might have imagined it. Then Midge swept out of the room with a decisive nod and a happy hum.

Midge shut the door behind her as she left and, finally closed in with nothing but the faint sound of traffic to keep her company, Susie let herself drop heavily onto the end of the bed. Her coat made a faintly alarming crunching noise beneath her, but she ignored it. She hadn’t worn it since they’d last been in New York and she couldn’t remember what it might be anyway. Whatever was in her pockets, it probably wasn’t important.

They were back. Maybe everything would be alright, after all.

*

“You look like you got up on the wrong side of the bed,” Susie said the next morning over a lazy breakfast. The children were already gone, collected by their grandparents before Susie had awoken. Or rather, Susie acknowledged silently to herself with a yawn, sometime before Midge had pounded on Susie’s door at a godawful hour - probably mid-morning - and yelled Susie’s name seemingly in a temper, only to stick her head around the door and sweetly offer to make them breakfast.

They were both moving sluggishly, despite their best laid plans. They had decided, over a post-dinner bottle of wine mostly drunk by Susie, to collect the last of Susie’s things from her sister’s place before hitting the Gaslight so Midge could show Susie her newest material. So Susie had no intention of apologising for wearing her pyjamas at the breakfast table, no matter how many pointed glances Midge made up and down Susie’s body. Especially not when Midge herself was still only half-dressed and stretched out lazily in her chair, all brassiere straps and tulle and long, long stockings strapped into ridiculous, teetering heels that Susie would never understand her wearing around the house. Or ever.

Susie snuck another glance at the offending shoes and shook her head disapprovingly when Midge hummed under her breath and sipped at her coffee, unconcerned. For a moment everything was peaceful, and Susie was tempted to drop it, only-

“Only, and correct me if I’m missing something here because fashion isn’t exactly my thing, but you seem to be missing a dress?”

Midge immediately looked down at herself with exaggerated horror and let out a high pitched gasp. “Oh no, where did that go?”

“Ha, ha. Very funny. I wouldn’t even mention it. Like I said, what do I know about dresses? But what with this no longer seeing in colour thing you’ve suddenly got going on, I didn’t want to assume it was an intentional choice.”

And oh boy, did that stiffen Midge’s spine. Alarmed, Susie automatically attempted to straighten out of her own sleepy slouch, but Midge just threw back the last dregs from her cup. Then she was already up and on her feet before Susie could apologise, or figure out what else she might be able to do to fix the horrible expression that had flitted across Midge’s face. But before Susie could figure what that thing was that she might be able to do, if anything, Midge had slammed her cup into the sink with enough force to make Susie wince and wrenched open the pantry.

She promptly disappeared nearly half-way inside of it, quite a feat from Susie’s perspective given that she knew now how very not-so-deep that particular pantry actually was. Still wincing, Susie opened her mouth - and then shut it again and bit her lower lip hard when Midge started talking.

“What are you talking about, all I see is colour! Colour, colour, colour, it’s the one remaining constant of my life. Colour never fades,” Midge said, her voice muffled. There was a rustling sound, like she was shuffling items around on shelves. Then she emerged again with a fetching flush to her cheeks and curls in her eyes, and absolutely nothing in her hands. “Why do you mention it?”

Susie just stared at her for a moment, still biting her lip, before she flicked her eyes down to Midge’s shoes. Midge followed her gaze, brow furrowed. Together they stared at Midge’s heels in awkward silence for more seconds than Susie cared to count, until Midge huffed and put her hands on her hips.

“What, Susie? What?”

Screwing up her mouth probably did very little to hide her hesitantly creeping amusement, but Susie gave it a try anyway. Even though it immediately made Midge’s eye twitch. “You’re wearing two different coloured shoes,” Susie said slowly, once she was sure she could keep her voice flat. She pointed a finger at the offending heels, though she immediately dropped it and returned to chewing on her lip when Midge’s face went carefully blank.

“Ah,” was all Midge said in reply, before brushing her hair out of her face and stalking out of the room with her head held high.

Susie listened as Midge’s heels clacked away from her and down the hall toward the bedrooms. When the footsteps didn’t immediately begin their return trip, she shrugged and picked up her toast.

“They’re just shoes,” she muttered to herself grumpily as she took a big bite. And if she thought about it hard enough, the bread definitely didn’t suddenly stick to the roof of her mouth like sawdust, either.

*

“I don’t see why it’s such a big deal,” Midge finally burst out as they hurried down the Gaslight steps. Her words were breathless, faint and wispy things that could have floated away in the air and disappeared at any moment. That niggled at Susie, that they were literally right back where they started one moment and everything was fine. Only, the next moment, for Susie to spot something cautious in Midge’s eyes that she couldn’t pin down but that she definitely didn’t like it.

It wasn’t like Midge to sound timid.

It couldn’t have been the tour. Midge had blown that away, just like Susie had always known she would. It had been worth every sleep-deprived morning and every second of Sophie’s increasingly short temper when Susie was discovered to have snuck away from Sophie's entourage during the night. But Susie had still been determined to stand in the back of Midge’s audience whenever their tours passed even remotely near to each other. Like ships in the night, only less dark as she'd basked in everybody’s laughter and watched Midge shine.

“You need the practice,” said Susie for the thousandth time that morning as they busted through the door. They both paused for a moment to take the place in and smile, before they breezed past Jackie’s surprised face with a grimace from Susie and a wave from Midge. “I don’t care how big and famous you got while you were away. I bet you also got used to those giant crowds of people, so now you’ve got to get used to dialling it back a little. Read the room more, now it’s small enough to actually be read again.”

“No, not that. Rehearsing here is fine, I agree with you and I missed this old place anyway,” Midge replied. She waved her hand carelessly in the air, like she could shoo the conversation away as she dropped her things on the nearest table and began to fish around for her notecards.

“Well then what?” Susie asked loudly, throwing her hands out before her in frustrated supplication. Midge paused with her own hand still buried in her handbag and blinked at Susie for a second, before she shrugged one elegant shoulder and turned away.

“Losing my colours,” she said briskly, but her voice was quiet again. Her eyes darted nervously over to Jackie, who was still blustering to himself by the door at least and well out of earshot.

“Oh,” Susie said. Then she stopped, words sticking in her throat as she nodded silently to herself a few times. “Right. That.”

And finally, _finally_ , Midge’s expression cracked. Like she was breaking clean down the middle and all that hidden brittleness Susie was beginning to hate was fully exposed to Susie’s gaze for the first time. “Yes, that,” she huffed. Her chin was up and her shoulders were back, like she thought Susie was going to come at her swinging. But also like Midge could take it, like she was steady on her own two feet or at least determined to pretend she was.

“I mean, um. That’s not such a big deal, either, you know. If you don’t want it to be,” Susie continued, and oh, God. Even to her own ears it sounded awkward and unconvincing, and she knew it even before Midge rolled her eyes, but- “I’ve pretty much always seen at least partially in grey, and look at me! I’m doing just fine.”

That brought Midge to a halt once more. But at least it was with plain old surprise this time, and not the oddly twisted expression that would probably haunt Susie’s dreams now.

“I mean, not _fine_ , obviously. I’m never fine. I used to live in a single room with a pull-down bed and a phone I couldn’t afford and now that Sophie’s chucked me out I can’t even get that much back so I’m probably going to be living in your guest room for the rest of my life. Or until you get sick of me and kick me out, of course. Which, knowing my luck, will most likely be tomorrow. But I’m, y’know. I’m fine,” Susie finished in a rush. She knew that she should bite her tongue and make the words stop. Put herself out of her own fucking misery before she dug this particular hole any deeper, or gave Midge some ridiculous idea that everything would be grey forever for her now.

But it was Midge’s hand on Susie’s shoulder that quieted her before she could manage it on her own. It felt warm through the thin material of Susie’s button-down, and Susie felt something settle deep inside her as Midge’s thumb stroked gently over the seam, and- oh, hell.

“Yes, you are,” was all Midge said though, and Susie was just so damn grateful; for the easy acceptance and the way Midge’s smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. For the way it made her heart ache, and her own colours flare just that little bit brighter for a moment. Like they always did when Midge was around.

“Aren’t you used to it now though? After the separation from your husband and all, I mean,” Susie asked as she leant into the warm weight of Midge’s hand and found herself smiling back helplessly. Christ. She needed to get a grip.

But before she could, Midge’s eyes widened and the hand on Susie’s shoulder disappeared. Before Susie could gather herself to mourn the cold spot left behind, Midge had found her notecards and pulled them out with a flourish. She fidgeted with them for a second, neatening the corners and checking that none have been left behind in her bag, and then she shrugged.

“Guess that secretary wasn’t the only reason we didn’t last,” Midge said airily. Like those words wouldn’t have been everything for her to admit once. Like Susie hadn’t watched her mourn her marriage in this very same room, albeit it often with a smile and a bow.

But before Susie could say any of that, or anything at all, Midge was up and gone. It only took her a moment to alternatively sass and soothe Jackie as he protested that the day’s auditions were due to start soon, so they really had to get out of his way. Susie watched her as she worked her magic and claimed some practice time first, only half paying attention as Midge climbed on stage, lost in thought and very, very confused.

Because the first time she’d seen Midge on stage with Shy Baldwin, it was after Susie had tried to sneak backstage - only to spot Joel in the wings and bail. And the next time they’d been within driving distance of each other, she’d immediately spotted Benjamin laughing and looming in the corner like the tall, circus freak he was. Then the third time, there Joel had been again, and that was when Susie had given up. She'd slunk to the back of the crowd to watch from afar, thinking it hadn’t been worth the fight or the inevitable lecture about working with Sophie. Not when she wasn’t even sure whether Midge would be happy to see her, either.

But if even losing Joel the first time hadn’t dimmed Midge’s colours-

Susie shook the thought away as Midge’s voice boomed through the Gaslight and her discarded cards started flying. Jackie’s auditions really would be starting soon and Midge needed Susie to focus, so they could make the most of the time they had before she had to hit the stage with a proper audience again.

But if….

*

“I missed this,” Midge said breathlessly later that night, giddy with triumph as she signed her last autograph and flung herself at Susie. Staggering a little, Susie managed to get one arm around Midge’s waist and one braced against the bar only barely in time to stop them both toppling to the floor.

“I can see that,” Susie replied with a smirk. But Midge didn’t notice. Or maybe she just didn’t care, judging by the sparkle in her eye and the liquor on her breath.

They were getting looks now though, Susie could see it from over Midge’s shoulder. Her girl was too well known now to slip quietly into the crowd, and those looks were fond and knowing or judgemental in equal turns. But they were enough to bring Susie back to attention, and plenty enough to leach colour from an already darkened room.

“Right, I think we need to get you some food,” Susie said hurriedly as she pushed Midge back a step.

Midge frowned, expression quickly turned both mutinous and confused enough to make Susie blanch. Shit. Whomever she’d fucked off enough to deserve this sort of flip-flopping head fuck on their first night back in business, Susie would love to know. Preferably so she could stab them with a fork. But quickly she muttered something about heading for the diner and sharing her notes on the new set, and Midge brightened again. So off they went, moving through the crowd like a hot knife through butter and only slowing down here or there for another hurried autograph.

The air on the street wasn’t exactly fresh. But it was cool, and it took some of the giddiness out of Midge’s smile and turned it soft.

“That was fun,” she said to Susie as she hooked their arms together. Her voice was lowered, like she was sharing a secret, and she tipped her head down towards Susie’s - even though, between her height and her still ridiculous shoes, she had no chance of whispering in Susie’s ear without falling over in the process. “I missed that.”

“Yeah, it’s not so bad. Even when the booze is shitty,” Susie agreed with a grin as she started to walk.

But Midge wasn’t moving, and Susie found herself yanked back a step by their linked arms before she realised. “No,” Midge said and frowned again. Her eyes were searching and her expression serious, like she had tried to pass her meaning directly into Susie’s brain with the force of her stare but had failed and knew it. “Not the Gaslight. I mean, I love the Gaslight, the Gaslight will always be my home even when I’m away from home. I even missed that awful sticky bartop that my cards get stuck to. Other bartops are now disappointingly not sticky, and I never thought that was a sentence I would ever say. But no, Susie. I mean that I missed this. I missed us.”

Midge’s frown deepened when Susie didn’t respond right away, and her grip on Susie tightened the longer the silence drew out between them. Her free hand fumbled at her collar, pulling her coat tighter around her throat. For a second all Susie could see was a blurry haze of the brightest of pinks, brighter than she remembered Midge’s coat ever being, as she tried to blink away her building disbelief - or was it hope?

Then Midge poked a finger sharply into Susie’s chest before she could wind herself into even more of a state. Her handbag swung like a pendulum from it’s perch on her elbow to smack Susie gently in the stomach, knocking free a huff of air and apparently Susie’s voice with it.

“You and me against the world, right?” Midge asked plaintively.

“Yeah,” Susie finally choked out, and Christ. Her voice broke over the word. She couldn’t even say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ without sounding like a moron. At least Midge was laughing and distracted again instead of still staring at her, apparently not noticing that Susie had gone back to grinning like a fool. Susie ducked her head, scuffed a boot on the sidewalk, and tugged on Midge’s arm to get her moving. “Yeah, that’s right. Just you and me against all those fuckers out there.”

*

The triumph of a successful gig and laughing over cake and coffee in the diner with Midge receded sharply once the sun shone again. Susie woke not long after dawn when something small and bony dug deep into her side, and found Ethan in the process of climbing up to perch on top of her. Or more accurately, on top of the mountain of covers that had kept her toasty warm but were apparently incapable of cushioning the limbs of one small child.

“Oh, God,” she croaked, confused and still half-asleep. So much for the children not venturing further down the hall for awhile. “You’re so little, how are you this heavy?”

She could hear Midge’s voice through the open door at least, calling out Ethan’s name.

“There, see, your mother’s looking for you. Why don’t you go find her?” Susie asked. But her voice was muffled from where she was trapped face down in her pillows, tangled in her blankets and unable to fight him off. When she tried to peer over her shoulder Ethan just blinked calmly back at her, so she gave up and let herself go limp to wait for Midge to rescue her.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long. Vaguely she registered Midge exclaiming over them as she scolded Ethan into getting down and going to watch television. But Susie just waved a hand from beneath the covers. Biting back her swearing was hard and she tried not to grunt when she got a knee to the kidney during his dismount, but it was a close thing

Apparently that wasn’t enough reassurance for Midge though. The next thing Susie knew, she was being turned onto her back. She only barely resisted the urge to say that they ‘really had to stop meeting like this’ as she let Midge move her - not least because she was starting to think it would be nice if they did. But between them they managed to untangle Susie’s coversand get her free, and then one of Midge’s hands was underneath her shoulder to pull her up and, warm as always, the other was cradling her face as Midge muttered apologies.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into him, or more likely what everyone’s been letting him get away with while I was touring,” she said as she settled next to Susie on the edge of the mattress. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay? Jesus Christ, I’ve been flattened like a pancake! Am I okay,” Susie groused. But she quickly relented when Midge’s brow creased and her hand reached out again for Susie’s face. “No, it’s okay, I’m fine. What’s a spine and a few internal organs in the face of a kid’s desire to turn everything into a jungle gym, yeah?”

Midge pulled a face and they both laughed. Something crashed in the distance and they turned their heads as one towards the door. But when nobody started crying or re-appeared in the doorway, Midge just relaxed again where she was pressed along Susie’s hip.

“At least you have a proper bed,” she said, shaking her head fondly. But there was something of a question in the lilt of her voice, and when Susie looked over she found Midge watching her covertly through her eyelashes. The sun through the curtains cast shadows across her face, and she still looked tired from their second late night in a row. But her eyes were bright and she was watching Susie so closely that it all somehow felt like the best thing Susie had ever seen first thing in the morning.

“Yeah, exactly,” Susie said and Midge relaxed even more, until she was sprawled half across the bed and half across Susie.

*

Somehow the weeks slipped through Susie’s fingers after that. Their mornings ended up more like the second than the first until even Susie was getting comfortable with their new routine, squished kidneys and all. Until finally, eventually, after a lot of finagling to secure an overnight babysitter in the form of Imogene and Archie, Midge did her first set at Joel’s new club.

“I don’t get it,” Susie said loudly into Midge’s ear, after she’d used all their drink tickets and received an arch look for her trouble. It wasn't like Midge needed drink tickets, anyway. Not at this particular bar.

“Don’t get what?” Midge yelled back. Her eyes were fixed on the stage as she applauded yet another young artist struggling to live up to the night’s opening act, and Susie was teetering on the verge of reaching out and making her turn away. Making her look back at Susie again, instead.

“I mean, his charms were always lost on me anyway, y’know? But I don’t get why you married him if he couldn’t take away your colours,” Susie yelled instead as she carefully wedged her hands under her thighs before she could give into temptation. They were pressed so closely together by the bar, tucked away on stools in the quietest corner available, that she could feel the way that Midge went still beside her. She didn’t respond to Susie though. Or if she did, Susie couldn’t hear it with Midge's face still turned away. To Susie's greatly disgruntled surprise, Joel’s new place had turned out to be a pretty hopping, and loud, place to have a gig.

Susie waited a moment, but Midge still wasn’t talking. Or moving. She wasn’t even watching Joel anymore as he did his thing on the other side of the room, waiting eagerly for the next excuse to jump on stage and introduce a new performer. So Susie slipped Midge’s glass out of her still fingers and tossed the last of Midge’s drink down her own throat for courage.

“Figure you must have had a reason. But marrying someone you can’t bond with doesn’t seem very compatible with the grand apartment and the clothes and the life and-”

“I didn’t know,” Midge interrupted, turning towards Susie and pressing her harder into the edge of the bar at the same time. The crowd laughed and cheered and stamped their feet around them about something on the stage, but Susie just blinked stupidly up at Midge and paid them no mind.

“You- what?” she asked.

“We had some fights when we were young, but nothing bad and I never… I’ve always seen in full colour. Until recently. So I thought we-”

Midge went silent again as Susie made a loud drawn out noise of dawning understanding. But she didn’t entirely understand it, her mind was still tripping along slowly through the realisation. “Sure, it’s trendy not to bond at the actual wedding anymore or whatever. But surely you realised at the bonding ceremony- Wait,” she yelled, before lowering her voice when someone next to them turned to glare. “You’d never seen _anything_ in grey? You’re kidding me. Christ, you really did live a fairytale life, didn’t you?”

Midge’s mouth twisted into a grimace that Susie only caught a glimpse of as Midge leaned in close. “I don’t want to talk about this here,” she said, her mouth by Susie’s ear.

Which was fine by Susie. She’d already stumbled her way through agreeing to drop the subject and was pointing out the terrible timing of the newest embarrassment on stage, but before Susie could finish the insult Midge had strong-armed her up off her comfortable barstool. She considered arguing the point as she was frogmarched into the crowd, but the drinks were all gone and Midge’s set long over. Susie hadn’t wanted to go to Joel’s stupid club anyway and she’d been itching all week to ask about Midge’s colours, even if it would have been too rude even for Susie to bring up out of the blue while sober. So she didn’t mind heading home.

Only, Midge wasn’t dragging Susie towards the exit. Instead, they veered sideways through the crowd until Midge could open a door labelled ‘STAFF’ and drag Susie down a hallway she’d never seen before.

“You might want to stop wrenching me around like that unless you want me to throw up all over your lovely mismatched again shoes,” Susie mused idly as Midge threw open another door seemingly at random and dragged her through it.

There was the click of a lock behind them, and then Midge finally stopped and stared down at her own feet. “You let me go on stage with- no, never mind.”

“They’re a closer match this time. I’m pretty sure nobody but me would have noticed, and that’s only because you made me watch you model all your new tour clothes all fucking weekend,” Susie continued, not really paying attention until Midge was looming over her and shaking her gently by the shoulders.

“Susie,” Midge said urgently. “I never saw anything in grey until this winter.”

Susie blinked slowly and nodded. “Ah, I see. So you weren’t bond-compatible with your husband, but you are with the freakishly tall boyfriend,” she said, and blinked when Midge covered her face with her palm. “That’s nice, but did we need to break into somebody’s office to discuss it? Also, I really do feel kind of queasy. This isn’t Joel’s office, is it? That might make me feel worse.”

“It wasn’t Benjamin. He visited me on tour, and- Look, yes, it was great to see him. But everything still kept fading.”

There was something in her expression that made Susie wonder if she was meant to be paying closer attention. But really, she did feel sick. And sleepy, very sleepy.

Midge sighed and followed as Susie listed her way sideways towards the couch in the corner. “It’s you, Susie. I know you kept dropping by my shows when you could, even after our fight. I saw a spot of colour in the audience one night, one bright spot at the very back of a sea of grey and when I saw you outside after, getting into a car, I realised. I'd lost my colours because we'd stopped talking.”

“Oh, that’s-,” Susie started to say, and then she stopped. “Oh. _Oh_ ,” she breathed.Luckily she’d been about to sit down anyway, because her knees promptly wobbled beneath her and dumped her onto the cushions without her say-so. Midge hovered above her, looking concerned, until Susie held out a hand wordlessly.

Midge’s smile was quick and blinding and the best thing Susie had seen all night as she sat down next to her. Other than Midge's new set of course, because Midge was going from amazing to brilliant to even more brilliant night after night just like always and it was still Susie’s favourite thing to watch.

“I don’t know what to say, but the room is spinning a little so if you don’t mind I’m just going to rest my eyes for a moment and gather my thoughts,” Susie said, feeling quiet and a little blank. Probably from the shock, or drink, she realised. But Midge’s shoulder was just as warm beneath her cheek as her hand always was on Susie’s shoulder, and her fingers clutched back when Susie tightened her grip on Midge’s hand, so. She’d figure out what to say. Just... in a moment, any minute now, she just needed a second to think-

*

When Susie squinted one eye reluctantly open, there was sun shining directly in her face and a weight across her waist. Which wasn’t all that different to most of her mornings of late, except everything felt inexplicably more comfortable than usual. She shifted experimentally, but no, her foot didn’t immediately slide over the edge of her narrow mattress. And instead of a restless tiny limb jabbing her vengefully in soft places, an arm tightened around her middle and pulled her snuggly back against another body.

“Morning,” a sleepy voice murmured in her ear.

Susie blinked hard once, then twice. Then she sat up and slapped herself across the face, only to yelp and grab her own smarting cheek.

“What are you doing?”

Turning very slowly, Susie looked down. Only to find Midge, who raised a curious eyebrow and watched her back as the corners of her mouth began to twitch.

“I, um. Sometimes I have very vivid dreams, and, um. I, ah-,” Susie started to stutter, but Midge didn’t let her get very far. She laughed, cutting Susie's stumbling explanation short, and for a second her face was brighter and more warm even than the sun in Susie’s eyes.

“There’s water and aspirin on the side table for you,” Midge said, and yes. Yes, when Susie looked around the room properly she realised she'd been right. She wasn’t in her own narrow, ridiculous bed. Instead, she was wrapped in Midge’s sheets in Midge’s room and reaching for a glass of water that awaited her beside Midge’s bed. It sat on a table that was apparently edged in pale blue ribbon, Susie noticed as she reached for it. A shade of blue so pale that Susie was suddenly fairly sure she’d never noticed it before.

“Do I remember you saying-,” Susie started to ask as she sipped at the water.

“That you stole my colours? Yes,” Midge answered her. Susie was almost afraid to look, but she could also practically taste the smile in the words and when she looked over, yes. Midge was still beaming up at her.

“I, ah. I didn’t exactly _steal_ anything,” she protested absentmindedly, as she watched Midge’s eyelashes dip down to her cheeks and then flutter up again.

After a moment, Midge sat up and took the glass from Susie’s hands. She reached past Susie and pressed their bodies together once more as she slid it back into its spot, before she bent her head to press a kiss to Susie’s cheek. “You did if I say you did.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Susie noticed idly that the grey squares on the quilt across their laps was beginning to fill with blues and greens that nicely complemented the warm colours Susie had always seen there. She licked her lips. “Yes, I suppose… maybe, if you really think- Um. Are you fucking with me right now?”

Midge looked like she wanted to laugh again, but she restrained herself. Instead she bit her lip, and Susie couldn’t stop her eyes from darting down. When she looked back up, Midge’s eyes were dancing at her enticingly, with grey and blue fighting a flickering war for dominance in their depths. “I’m not fucking with you, Susie.”

Susie nodded once, twice, and then shook her head. “No, but seriously? This sort of shit doesn’t just happen to me.”

That made Midge’s eyes stop dancing, and Susie immediately wanted to eat her words. But Midge’s hand was just as warm as always as she reached for Susie, and when she tugged Susie down, Susie followed. “If I try and kiss you again, do you promise not to pass out on me this time? We’ve only got a few more hours until Imogene is meant to drop off the kids.”

“Oh, well, if Imogene’s dropping off the little terrors soon, then by all means,” Susie said, and instantly wanted to slap herself in the face again. But Midge was laughing once more, and leaning in close, and suddenly Susie realised that instead of scared or skeptical... all she really was, was fucking grateful again. Not least because she was fairly sure Midge was about to give her an excuse to shut her eyes. And Midge or no Midge, potential bond or no bond, the hangover from hell was already knocking at the back of Susie’s skull, and watching colours explode brighter than ever over everything around them wasn’t exactly helping.

But before she could complain anymore, even in her own head, Midge had pulled Susie into a kiss. And surrounded by a cloud of Midge’s perfume, tickled by the ends of her sleep-tangled curls, Susie closed her eyes and let herself be soothed by just how right she felt in Susie's arms.


End file.
